Displaying items by tag: The Hunt for Red October

Welcoming to a new week, Bits readers!

So the good news is that the site appears to be stable, our email is working, and all of our functionality appears to be restored. If you’re having any trouble, please let us know.

In the meantime, we have some new reviews for you to enjoy today…

Stephen has taken a look at Guy Hamilton’s Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Synapse Films.

Tim has offered his thoughts on Hanna-Barbera’s The New Fred and Barney Show: The Complete Series (1979) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection. He’s also assisted Dennis with 4K Ultra HD reviews of Terry Jones’ Monty Pythons’ Life of Brian (1979) from the Criterion Collection and Alvin Rakoff’s Death Ship (1980) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis has turned in a solo review of Mike Figgis’ Mr. Jones (1993) on Blu-ray from Imprint films.

More reviews are on the way all this week, so be sure to watch for them!

Now then, in release and announcement news today, Disney officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Pixar’s CG-animated Hoppers (2026) on 6/2, with the Digital release expected tomorrow on 4/28. The 4K disc will come in Steelbook packaging and interestingly, it will be released on a 100 GB disc with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Extras will include 5 featurettes (The Critter Dairies, Hopping In: The Making of Hoppers, Meet King George: Scene Breakdown, Beaverton Revealed, and Damn Good Bloopers) plus 6 deleted scenes. You can see the cover art at left. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re starting the new week off with a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column from our own Michael Coate, who’s celebrating the 30th anniversary of John McTiernan’s The Hunt for Red October with a new film retrospective that features a look back at the original theatrical release, the 70mm engagements, and a new interview with author and film historian Eric Lichtenfeld. Enjoy!

Meanwhile, our friends at Kino Lorber have announced some fun new Studio Classics titles that are coming soon to Blu-ray, including Joe Dante, John Landis, Carl Gottlieb, Robert K. Weiss & Peter Horton’s Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) and Peter Hyams’ Narrow Margin (1990), along with a trio of titles newly announced for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/5—Fred Coe’s A Thousand Clowns (1965) and Me, Natalie (1969—featuring Al Pacino’s first screen role), and Guy Hamilton’s An Inspector Calls (1954). [Read on here...]

“The Hunt for Red October had a big problem in that the Cold War kind of… ended while they were in post-production. So The Hunt for Red October should have been dated before it even opened — which means that the fact that it not only succeeded at the time, but has endured over the thirty years since, says a lot.” — Eric Lichtenfeld, author of Action Speaks Louder

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 30th anniversary of the release of The Hunt for Red October, the Cold War action thriller based upon Tom Clancy’s best-selling novel and which ultimately launched the Jack Ryan franchise.

The Hunt for Red October was directed by John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard) and starred Sean Connery (James Bond, The Untouchables) and Alec Baldwin (Beetlejuice, Glengarry Glen Ross). [Read on here...]

Before we get started today, we have a pair of new Blu-ray reviews for you from Dennis—he’s taken a look at George Cukor’s Holiday, newly available on disc from The Criterion Collection, and also Judy from Lionsgate. Enjoy!

In announcement news today, we’ve got word that Universal plans to release Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/28. The disc will include the Q&A with Director Bong Joon-ho featurette. There are no plans yet for a UK 4K Ultra HD release here in the States, though the film is coming to physical 4K in France, German, and elsewhere. Unfortunately, those discs will not have English subtitles for the original Korean language audio. Fingers crossed that Universal will decide to release a 4K if sales of the Blu-ray are strong. You can see the Blu-ray artwork above left.

Also today, we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List to reflect a bunch of new street dates and pre-order information we’ve gotten in from retail and industry sources. Here’s the gist (and if you click on the titles links provided, you can pre-order the titles on Amazon if available)... [Read on here...]

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All right, there’s not a lot of release news today, so I thought we’d catch up on some Blu-ray reviews...

First up today, we have a new review from our own Tim Salmons of Universal and Laika’s excellent The Boxtrolls on Blu-ray. It’s a great little film, and we always love seeing stop-motion animation get its due in this time when CG seems to dominate for such titles.  [Read on here…]